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My last day in Bangkok was, well very quiet indeed. All there was to do was a little shopping for trinkets to take home, make sure I was fed and watered properly, obtain a paper clip (its importance will be revealed later), and get all my packing done ready for leaving this beautiful place to head back home to Melbourne.

I have really enjoyed my time in Bangkok. There has been so much I have been able to do and I have realised that sometimes, even I, need to take a back seat to a few things as there are many things I never got done. Most of these things were kind of not super important, but there were at least 3-4 places I really wanted to get to and never did. I also managed to make a heap of work while I was here this time. I started one thing and it really wasn’t working. Struggled along for a few days with it and decided to ditch it completely. Somehow I managed to fall into another series of images that just started coming to me almost straight away!! I think its going to end up a collaborative project and more details and some sample images to come very soon.

I felt very free this time in Bangkok and I think the city has changed a lot. Once I get my head around some more of my thoughts I will write something for you. Might take a day or two. I will also make a little video about my trip on my YouTube Channel.

Well its almost my last day here in Bangkok. It has been a wonderful trip. So many galleries, so much good food, and so many amazing experiences.

Today was a fairly quiet day as a Sunday in BKK as you know. Bangkok kind of just slows down a lot on a Sunday and many of the street vendors don’t come out. Most would head to the local markets to sell food and drinks which is why it becomes very hard to get anything to eat cheaply.

After a very quiet breakfast and some coffee i made my way over to Bangkok CityCity Gallery. A collective named SOS or Sold Out Studios are running an interesting exhibition about highlighting ideas around Environmental, Economic, and Social Issues in Bangkok. A great collection of street artists from Thailand, the UK, and France have treated a lot of multi faceted works that use photography, video, sound and installation. Such an interesting collection of works presented with varying discussions of the problems people seem to find. I found the whole exhibition very interesting and the space itself seemed to heighten the Bangkok experience itself.

Tomorrow Im not sure how much I will do as its my last day in BKK. I might stay in, I might just go for coffee, but either way my last day will be fairly quiet.

Ventured out early thins morning to try and beat most of the heat and humidity. Bangkok weather has been kind crazy the last few days! It has been wonderfully warm with a nice cool breeze to filthy hot and humidity at 100%. Weather like that really drains it out of us visitors and not idea how to really survive it properly.

First place of interest today was Space Bar Design which is in the heart of Sena Garden only a short walk from the Sutthisan MRT Station. Inside you will find an amazing little place full of unique publications by many different Local Thai artists and a few from other far flung places. After telling myself ‘NO MORE BOOKS’ I purchased 2 little titles from local photographers to bring back to Melbourne with me.

Then on the way home I was able to pass by House of Lucie in Ekamai. They have such a great collection of images on display at the moment it was a wonderful little exhibition to look at on the way back through. The exhibition was a collection of images, prints, and other printed media form all the House of Lucie photographers. There was also a small exhibition of the John Malkovich images shot by SANDRO where he is taking on the persona of famous photographs.

Some more great places and maybe only one more on the map close by. Might do a little bit of shopping tomorrow as its almost heading back to Melbourne Time for me.

Well I have to admit that day was a day for inside. Bangkok was a hot old place today! Even though the thermometer might have only said 34 it felt well and truely hotter. I double checked my weather app and the temp said 34 deg C but felt like 42 with humidity around 60%.

I spent the morning going for a quick wander down the street for a quick breakfast then headed to a one of the major malls. These places are air conditioned and I must admit a lovely sanctuary from the Bangkok heat. In air-conditioned comfort I was able to sit and read for a few hours before i thought it was time to head back to the hotel and think of some late lunch.

A little plate of fruit for dinner and it’s time to start thinking of sleep. Not sure what I will do tomorrow, but I have a few little things still left to do on my list. Bangkok has been wonderful to me this trip!!

Today was spent having a little cooking class with the amazing team at The Market Experience. This was a treat to myself for just the simple experience of learning more Thai cooking skills to take home and share with my friends once I get back home to Melbourne.

I was super lucky as at the moment it’s Chinese New Year and there are a lot of ‘touristy’ things that have very low on numbers so I had the whole team to myself.

Seasonal Fruit Salad with Pork

The interaction with the Teachers Alyssa and Tum made the whole experience just an absolute please and the meals were simply prepared and run in a way that made me feel very inclusive in the decision process.

The first dish you make is called Miang Khum. Simply a Betel leaf stuffed with small amounts of onion, lime and other finely chopped delicious fresh ingredients topped with a lovely simple sauce.

Second dish is a wonderful Seasonal Fruit Salad with fried Pork. This dish was probably one of my favourites. A lovely salad of Heart Apple, Mango and Dragon Fruit with a lime dressing with torn mint. Then with a little fried pork and chilli for topping.

Third dish starts with learning to make your curry paste either red or green. I am defiantly a green curry guy so I made a green.

Green Curry with Chicken and Eggplant

The curry paste is made from scratch and cooked out with coconut oil. The curry paste if fried away till pungent then hard vegetables added to cook down and finally the chicken. So delicious and made to exactly how you, the maker and creator, think it should taste. I do like mine a little on the salty side which kind of offsets the sweet of the green chilli.

The final dish is a kind of classic Pad Thai with a twist. Now he twist can be anything you think of to take it out to the next level. Mine used a fermented soy bean flavoured noodle which added a lovely extra flavour to my Pad Thai.

Pad Thai with Prawn

Served with lime, bean shoots, and some garlic chive. A lovely simple dish again learned from scratch. The team teach you how to make the Pad Thai sauce, then with your ingredients all together you make this lovely Pad Thai!! I’m normally not a massive fan of Pad Thai as I find the sauce a little sweet, but again I was able to make the Pad Thai to my liking with a little extra fish sauce.

If you’re in Bangkok and would like to have a lovely tour of the Yodpiman Flower Market, a Cooking Class with a Twist, make sure that you try out The Market Experience and book a little something. They are an amazing group of people and will give you an amazing experience to remember.

Today I think I really needed a change of scenery and made a very long journey out of Bangkok into Ayutthaya. Getting out of the city is sometimes very rejuvenating.

If you ever decide to head there I would also recommend getting there very very early in the morning. I probably would have liked to be there a little earlier as the heat of the day can be very very oppressing in the open areas. The site itself covers a lot of ground, about 289 ha, you can hire bikes or Tuk Tuk style bikes and drivers to take you around place to place. This could be a very good choice for those on hotter days or if you struggle walking from site to site.

If your heading to Bangkok and want to make the trip to Ayutthaya, try and do it mid week as well. Mid Week gives you a massive chance to glide through the heritage listed site without to much trouble. It will also give you time to spend in the ruins without running into to many other tourists and you can photograph with rather a clearer background.

Such a beautiful place and so serene. I had such a lovely time slowly walkthrough in-between all most of the ruins yet not seeing them all. Spending roughly 4 hours on foot made me very glad to get back to the bus to get back to the city. If I had of used a Tuk Tuk or Bicycle I would have been able to see a lot more of the buildings, but in reality I don’t think I missed out on anything that related directly to my experience in seeing this beautiful holy place.

Weather was just glorious today in Bangkok this morning. It was lovely to go for a bit of a walk around discovering.

I popped into Graysons on Ploenchit Road and went to the Leica Store to have a look at the Nick Ut exhibition. His war photography on Vietnam and his most famous image of Kim Phuc running down the road after being burned almost to death by a Napalm Drop. His Kim Phuc image was and has been honoured as the one that started the end of the war. It was so horrifically received it started the talks to end everything. The photos hanging the the gallery space were just beautiful. They all resonated to me in one way or another and had me raise a tear or two. If I remember correctly my uncle was posted not far from where all this happened.

After the gallery I had a lovely wander around working on my own current project of mapping the maps of Thailand. Once I get back to Melbourne and my films developed I will start sharing my images with you all. I have also started a project on the abstract colours and colour combinations found in Thailand as well. More on that later.